Table Talk

Requests of God

"Do you know why I often ask Christians,
'What's the biggest thing you've asked God for this week?'
I remind them that they are going to God,
The Father, the Maker of the Universe.
The One who holds the world in His hands.
What did you ask God for?
Did you ask for peanuts, toys, trinkets,
or did you ask for continents?
I want to tell you … it's tragic!
The little itsy-bitsy things we ask of our Almighty God.
Sure, nothing is too small -- but also nothing is too big.
Let's learn to ask for our big God some of those big things He talks about in Jeremiah 33:3:
'Call unto Me and I will answer thee,
and show thee great and mighty things
that thou knowest not.'"

Quoted in The Navigator by Robert Foster

What did you ask for today?

Epic as a Podcast

Both the Epic Live Video (see below) and the Epic Live Audio are now available as a gift from Ransomed Heart. Follow this link: www.ransomedheart.com/podcast

Pomegranates & Bells?

The other day I was reading about the priest's garments in Exodus. At the hem of the robe were to be alternating pomegranates and bells. The pomegranates were to be of blue, purple and scarlet material and the bells were to be of gold. This was to be worn by Aaron and the tinkling of the bells was heard when he entered and left the holy place, "so that he will not die."

I began to think about my life. Was it one of bells or pomegranates or, hopefully, a balance of both. I think that a life of just bells is one of "all talk and no action". Like heat lightning, all flash and no production. No fruit! A life of all action misses the point of mentioning who we do it for. The assumption is made that "he's just a great guy." Is that why I do good things. So others will say, what a nice guy", or is it to bring attention to my Master. No bells, just pomegranates. In a balanced life, the bells still tinkle, but they are subdued by the fruit in between.

Have you ever seen a pomegranate? Most fruit only has a seed or just a few. You could plant a whole forest of pomegranate trees from one fruit. Do my actions plant any seeds, at all? Make me wonder if the point is the sweetness of the fruit or the planting of seeds.

And then there's the whole issue of the colors of the pomegranates. Every pomegranate I've ever seen was a crimson color. Well, except the one we left rotting in the bottom of the fridge one time. It was brown with this green fuzzy stuff...well, you get the picture. I guess fruit wasn't meant to be left in the fridge, and in the dark.

Yeah, back to the colors. The pomegranates on the priest's hem were to be blue, purple and scarlet. Blue usually speaks of heavenly things, purple of royal, and scarlet speaks of blood or redemption. And remember that these bells and fruit were on the hem, not the collar. Sounds like where we walk. Gosh, do I walk the talk. Is my walk redeemed. Do I walk like I have been bought with a price. Is my walk royal. Do I walk like I'm a king. Yup, He made us Kings and Priests. Is my walk heavenly. I don't mean "so heavenly minded that I'm no earthly good". No, I mean the kind of walk where I know where I a citizen of and so getting down and dirty with people should be no problem. When was the last time I sat with a friend under a bridge or slept on a porch with the dogs and fleas and lots of "image bearers" of God? Or just served a bowl of hot soup to a hungry friend on a cold day. Maybe even sat down and shared it with him.

Speaking of priesthood, my fav priest was Melchizedek...or should I say is, as he has no beginning and no end. "...priest of the Most High God" and what does he do for Abram? He serves him and blesses him. I'd love to be that kind of priest. And Melchizedek's name means King of Righteousness and King of Peace. Am I known for bringing justice and peace wherever I go? But that's part of what it means to walk in the footsteps of my Master.

What kind of footprints are you leaving? Or are you just a ding-a-ling?

I'm so good at this!

Unbelievable! It's been over a year since my last post. I suppose I'm not the worst at this as I find other blogs that have been dormant for years.

What's new? The most recent events have been the total replacement of both of my knees. The left in October and the right in December. Initially messed up in sports with previous arthroscopic surgeries to trim cartilage and peek at torn ligaments, and then arthritis. It was so bad I couldn't walk for more than 15 to 30 minutes without having to sit and take the strain of my knees.

Here's a pic of what the knee prostheses look like. I was going to put 2 pics in (one for each knee) but one of my daughters said this was gross enough.

Not that there isn't any pain now but it's getting better, not worse. I was actually able to use an elliptical walker this past week and get out of breath. It felt great! Must be those long lost endorphins. I am still enjoying the benefits of occasional Vicodin but the need is decreasing and it will soon be unnecessary.

My physical therapist has been great (I say that while not being drugged). The sessions are difficult but "no pain, no gain". I'm soooo looking forward to hiking and geocaching when the snow goes away.

I have found now that having 2 "fake" knees and pins in my left heel from an unfortunate encounter with a cow has made me a pariah among my traveling companions. They breeze through airport security ahead of me and enjoy a six course meal while waiting for me to get "wanded". The past two wandings have been from tall black men who chuckle their way through the procedure. They all want to know what happened and break out in full laughter when I tell them the cow story.

A brief digression. To say the above reminds me of the scene in The Four Feathers, where Djimon Hounsou chides Heath Ledger about the way Englishmen laugh.

Back to the snow. Argh, the snow. That's where I've been getting my exercise lately. This make 6 or 7 weekends in a row that it has snowed. Today's started at about 5am with a few flurries flitting under the streetlight but it only amounted to about an inch of the stuff that you can float away with a broom. Never had snow like this Back East. I mean the fluffy stuff. We still have 4 foot drifts in the back from previous snows and 2 to 3 feet in the front. Yesterday I finally chipped away the refrigerator size chucks of ice from the driveway. The past month has made us LOVE our Subaru.

Nuff for now.

Just an update

I know, I know...it's been too long since I've posted anything here so there's a lot to catch up on.

I didn't get the job and we didn't relocate to Kansas City. My company asked me to apply for a position in New Jersey. The family took a vote and they would rather move to Afghanistan. But since my territory has become quite a bit smaller now, from 8½ states to 5 to primarily the Front Range of Colorado, from Ft. Collins to Pueblo and a secondary market of Albuquerque, we felt compelled to move closer Denver. We are going to move to Castle Rock in a couple of weeks. It'll be fun to see what Papa has in store for us there. We looked in several areas around Denver, but really got a sense that this is where we are supposed to be.

I know, Castle Rock looks a bit modern, but were were looking for a place that was upscale from where we had been living. At least the train stops here. And wow, would you look at that COVERED taxi. Beats riding home on hay bales holding an umbrella. You can see the castle-shaped rock in the back-right of the photo. I'm really going to miss my old country friends. Hope the folks here are friendly. Where we live now, if you don't wave when you meet someone coming from the other direction, you hear about how rude you are either at the coffee shop or the barber's, whichever comes first. I think Castle Rock may even have two barber shops not to mention the factory outlet stores. I knew this move was gonna cost me, having 3 teenaged daughters.

Another change is that I had foot and ankle surgery in February.

Got stepped on by a cow, helping a friend round up 200 head that got out after someone cut a fence. Worked like crazy to get them all off of the railroad tracks and got a bit too close to Bessie when she put it in reverse. Those girls don't have back-up lights, ya know.

I get the cast off next Tuesday for which we'll all be grateful. I am ready for a stand-up shower and a good scratch and everyone else is ready for me to wash my foot!

'nuff for now.

...in due season.

We're still waiting to hear about the promotion I applied for. It’s difficult giving it back to Papa every day, usually at least a few times a day. We were together with friends last Sunday evening and one friend, Larry - a rancher/farmer, mentioned that due to the damp weather, he still had much corn in the field to be picked, about 6 circles. That’s over 700 acres. It usually takes about a day to pick a circle of corn. This is a guy that asks Papa what kind of crops to plant. He’s been known to stop planting one crop and go back and plant another in the same field because he sensed Papa telling him to. His obedience is always a lesson to me of a HUGE faith.

Anyway, Larry said he had been feeling a bit anxious the past couple of weeks because it had been a long time since he was still picking corn into Thanksgiving. Understand, this guy runs a 12 row combine with a GPS and sensors that tell him how many bushels per acre he’s getting and the moisture content of the corn as it’s coming into the combine. He and his family have more cattle than I have pennies in my penny jar. He can tell you what parts of his fields need more fertilizer, water and prayer. Sounds like a lot of control, but when you get down to it, he’s still reliant on Papa.

I remember a picture on the cover of an old Discipleship Journal. The Journal was focused on prayer. The cover art was a painting of a farmer looking over plowed and planted fields at a few clouds in the distance. The inference was that he was praying for rain …waiting for Papa to move.

Last Sunday morning I was reading a bit of Come to Papa, by Gary Wiens. In the chapter, The Nurturing Father, Gary quotes the words of David in Psalms 145:15, 16:

The eyes of all look expectantly to You.

And You give them their food in due season.

You open Your hand

And satisfy the desire of every living thing.

Gary goes on to say:

You see, the Father’s plan is to give us all things in the right season. There is a perfect timing that the Father has set in His own heart for the release of all things. He will release everything that will be for our blessing, our maximum pleasure, and glory. God is absolutely focused on maximum glory for Himself, and His strategy for this ultimate glory is thorough beautification of His sons and daughters. He will present us to His Son, our Bridegroom Jesus, perfectly prepared, radiant, and dazzling as His Son’s counterpart, His crowning glory.

When I read these quotes to our little group, Larry and I decided we can wait. For this story, we can wait.

As I was getting ready to post this, I came across a Ford commercial that kind of speaks to this …everything in its perfect time.

Roger's Heart

During the HouseChurch Conference in Denver, I had the incredible joy of meeting Roger (see the comment to my last blog).

In just few short seconds, prepared by reading his blogs, I fell in love with this man's heart....I just love his heart. I could see that it had been broken by the things of life, but there's a radiance of Papa that just shines through the cracks. Sadly, he doesn't live next door, but I marvel at the elove he is able to communcate. Ooooh, elove, is that a new word? And, our new friends, Chris and Marti. Funny, they're on opposite coasts. Guess that puts our family in the middle of the brackets (family), kinda like a big hug. Love you guys! Oh, by the way, remember that Saturday the 16th is National Boss's Day (well, in the US anyway).

Extended Family

I've decided that instead of trying to do book reviews, conference reviews and movie reviews, I'm just going to pass along our current events as they pop up. A friend said of herself the other day, “...I've found that I just live in the moment...” I thought about that for a while and decided that perhaps that's me, too. Scary when quick comments like that can change your perceptions of your self.

I shared that with my wife this evening and she started laughing. I thought that I had completely missed it and that she saw me much differently than I saw myself. She said that she was laughing because her best friend and her husband are so much alike.

About 6 years ago, Papa gave me a nudge that he was going to ‘enlarge my territory’ and stretch my tent’. That was before “The Prayer of Jabez” became popular. About a year and a half after that, I got a job that covered an 8 ½ state territory. Lot’s of opportunity to pray as I drove around my territory. Sometimes I would be so overcome in prayer I would have to pull over and cry.

Recently, I applied for a promotion that would require our family to the move to the Kansas City area from our little rural town in Colorado. It’s a move that my wife and I have been praying about for a couple of years. I’ve only had a preliminary interview for the position but it’s been amazing to watch Papa change the hearts of our 3 daughters still living at home.

If I don’t get this new position, things will still change for my territory. I’ll have a different manager and will now only have two states. Having only two states would be good for my business and allow more time to concentrate on fewer accounts. Still, it’s change, and our fiscal year ends September 30. So with these potential changes and all of the end-of-fiscal-year demands, I’m feeling a bit on edge. I emailed our new friends Chris and Marti and asked for some prayer so I could get focused on Papa. Here’s Chris’ reply:

Bill,

As I write this, I'm sitting here watching Gladiator. Maximus is in the ring and he has been surprised by the extra distractions and entanglements of Tigers, and soldiers sent out after him. Just when he is in position to strike at his opponent, a tiger leaps forward from the concealed entrance below him and attacks. I suppose that's how you're feeling right now.

If we were able to mix the axioms of Larry Crabb and John Eldredge together I think it would come out as: "We need to put first things first, and second things second" and remember that there is a "Bigger Story".

"For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." 2 Co 4:17,18

Anyway, Maximus is about to fight for Rome, so I've got to go

Chris

Don’t ya just love Papa’s body?

High Priest of the Home?

Earlier this week at our weekly men's prayer breakfast, we had a discussion regarding a speaker for our proposed father-son banquet. A couple of the men had proposed Coach McCartney. The suggested topic had to do with men as the High Priests of their home, and their subsequent roles. I know this had been a popular topic in the 70s and 80s and I asked for more detail as to what was intended and what this term meant, as I didn't see it in the New Testament.

One if the brothers went into a long explanation regarding man's role as head of the household and his responsibilities toward his wife and family, and what has happened with women's lib, etc, etc. I could understand his point but I felt that the term Priest of the Home was a misnomer and tended toward misinterpretation. I let it drop...for the time being.

We then engaged in conversation about another topic but my heart wouldn't let go. I've done sufficient damage to my wife and kids with the authority/submission issue. Not intentionally, just out of my own selfishness. My Father was not about to let this teaching moment and my passion on the issue escape without His comment to me.

My heart was then drawn to Melchizedek in Genesis 14. I felt prompted to look up the passage. God bless the people at Olive Tree Software and PDA Bibles http://www.olivetree.com. I Peter 1:9 and Revelation 1:6 and 5:10 say that we are "kings and priests" or a "royal priesthood". This was the first time I recall having put together the "royal priesthood" of the N.T. with the priesthood of Melchizedek.

Now I know that Melchizedek is a shadow or type of Christ, but I was so drawn to the passage in Genesis 14. Look at what Melchizedek does for Abram. In verses 18-20 it says, "Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High. And he blessed him and said: "Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand."

Melchizedek serves Abram, then he blesses Abram, then he blesses God for God's work for Abram. Wow! I have always understood the passages regarding my kingly priesthood in terms of the privilege given me to enter the "Holy of Holies", access to the throne room of The Most High God. But here, Melchizedek as a priest of the Most High God, moves OUT OF the throne room to SERVE and BLESS Abram.

This is reminiscent to me of the master who returns from the wedding feast in Luke 12: 36-37. "Be like men who are waiting for their master when he returns from the wedding feast, so that they may immediately open the door to him when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those slaves whom the master will find on the alert when he comes; truly I say to you, that he will gird himself to serve, and have them recline at the table, and will come up and wait on them."

I understand that the focus of this passage is on servants who are ready and prepared for the return of their master, but look at the focus of the master. He girds himself (prepares himself to work) and then HE SERVES his servants.

I think that is why we experience so much joy when we SERVE. We are reflecting the Master's heart. We were created to serve, just as He serves.

Father, open my eyes to opportunities to serve You, my wife and family, and the community in which You have placed me. Remind me to lean on Your strength, courage and longsuffering, and not look for the thankfulness of man but the ravished heart of the Lover of my soul.